Latvia’s Minister of Defense Raymond Bergmanis announced on Monday that he has signed a contract for the supply of Denmark’s Stinger man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS).
“The amount of the transaction is not very big, but we received a sufficient number of weapons,” the Delphi minister quoted as saying. - This is very important for the development of our armed forces. We will be able to more effectively protect our country if the need arises. ”
“The decision to purchase stingers is, of course, the right decision. Latvia needs to strengthen its defense, ”the nationalist Imants Paradnieks, deputy of the Latvian Seym, said succinctly to the newspaper LOOKING about this issue, refusing further communication.
Latvian military expert Yuri Melkonov, in turn, doubts the advisability of the purchase. "Stinger" is designed to hit targets at low altitudes. That is, it is a partisan weapon. It’s not clear why Latvia is in it, ”he admitted to the VIEW newspaper. He does not try to guess the number of Stingers purchased, but believes that it is a small lot.
In contrast, the director of the Center for Analysis of the World Trade in Arms, Igor Korotchenko, told RIA “News“That it is obviously a limited batch, not more than 100 units, since Latvia does not have trained personnel who could successfully exploit a large amount of this weapon.
As is known, the Stinger (“Stinger”) is the old system. Their first combat use took place in the 1982 year: during the Falklands War, they were used by the British. From 1987, the United States began to supply them to the Mujahideen ("dushmans") who fought against the Soviet army in Afghanistan. According to Western experts, after this loss of Soviet aviation increased sharply.
Now, these MANPADS are considered relatively cheap, the price of the installation comes to 40 thousand dollars. Consequently, a lot in 100 installations will cost Riga no more than 4 million dollars, or 3,5 million euros. Last year, the Latvian defense budget amounted to 367 million euros.
The concept of the defense of Latvia - in the wording of the 2008 year - does not say that the country's army is preparing for guerrilla warfare. The Latvian armed forces are aimed at participating in joint operations with other NATO forces both abroad and in the republic. Since June of this year, a multinational free battalion of the alliance has been deployed in Latvia. It includes about 1 thousand people - from Poland, Italy, Albania, Slovenia, but the core are soldiers of Canada.
“The very idea of re-equipping the Latvian army is basically correct,” says Melkonov, recalling that last year Latvia bought 123 British armored personnel carriers for 40 million euros, and more than 200 million would go for maintenance. But the deal provoked strong opposition criticism. “Therefore, any figure that the minister would call would cause indignation,” he told the newspaper VIEW. That is why Bergmanis and hides the amount of the transaction and the size of the party - so as not to provoke public irritation incomprehensible spending.
Moreover, the Latvian army already has a significant number of MANPADS - these are Swedish RBS-70, the purchase contract of which was signed two years ago.
Melkonov suggests that in this case Denmark won the most, which used the more advantageous way to get rid of obsolete weapons as compared to recycling - to sell them to militarily insignificant states. In July, 2015, the Latvian commander of the armed forces, Raimonds Graube, announced his readiness to purchase FIM-92 Stinger from the USA to create a base in Adazi. However, the purchase, according to official data, did not take place. However, Melkonov does not exclude that Denmark is generally only an intermediary in this case - and then the Stingers from Latvia can be sent to a third country.
The source of the newspaper VIEW in the Russian Ministry of Defense did not rule out that Riga could transfer part of the MANPADS to Kiev. “Latvia has actually become a military base for Ukraine. There are trained and received supplies and units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and radical nationalist formations, such as the Right Sector *, the source reports.
In contrast, military expert Viktor Murakhovsky believes that the probability of supplying MANPADS from Latvia to Ukraine is close to zero. Newspaper VIEW Murakhovsky reminded:
“Between the leading manufacturers, between the states that produce man-portable air defense systems, there is an agreement to control their proliferation. If the fact of supply of "stingers" from Latvia to Ukraine opens, then, frankly, a Pandora's box can open with it. Such complexes can get to the third forces. MANPADS - this is a very dangerous tool, and it is much more dangerous on the outskirts of Orly airport, than in the south-east of Ukraine. After all, the militia has no aircraft. ”
But in any case, according to a source in the Ministry of Defense, Latvia’s actions are unfriendly towards Russia, which stems from the very nature of the purchase.
“These portable anti-aircraft and anti-helicopter systems are effective only when an offensive or counter-offensive operation is underway on someone else’s territory or on their own territory, and only in close armed clashes,” he says. - This is due to the fact that the "stinger" effectively knocks down aircraft at low altitudes. Therefore, NATO is preparing Latvia for a clash with Russia, since Latvia has no other official military threats. So, while they are there in NATO, they are telling us about the defense, at the same time they are preparing for an attack. ”
According to him, all the actions of the Latvian Ministry of Defense are now aimed at eliminating the “Russian threat”, and in order to stir up such fears, they are constantly looking for a necessary excuse. Murakhovsky indirectly associates the announcement of the purchase of “stingers” with anxiety, which is intensified in the Baltic States and at NATO headquarters as the Russian-Belarusian maneuvers approach.
“With the help of the strategic command of NATO, they even opened a separate website - they are counting the days and hours before the start of the West-2017 exercises, which are conducted by the Armed Forces of Russia and Belarus. We go to this site, and you are in clear English explains how much is left before the aggression, what it will be. Therefore, within this framework, any purchases are welcome, that slingshots, that footcloths, that second-hand anti-aircraft missile systems, ”Murakhovsky ironically says.